Former South African president Nelson Mandela is still in the hospital as he recovers from surgery to remove gall stones, ABC News reports.

Mandela was flown to an unnamed hospital in the city of Pretoria on December 8th with no details as to why he was going. The government made an announcement that he was just going to to the hospital for medical testing, giving no indication as to why he needed to be flown to a hospital for said tests. However, they said Saturday that the doctors found gall stones that needed to be removed.

The doctors also said Mandiba, as Mandela is affectionately known, also has a lung infection that needs to be treated. However, they feel tat doing the surgery first would be better and safer.

The 94 year old Mandela has been hospitalized a couple of times over the last year – in January 2011 for a lung infection and earlier this year for abdominal pains – but this is the longest he’s ever been in the hospital.

Although he’s no longer president, there is no question that Mandela is still South Africa’s most revered person. To that end, the media always wants to be updated with full details about his health and whereabouts. These recent health issues have caused a serious rift between the government and the media because the government initially said that Mandela was at a military hospital but then said he was at an undisclosed private hospital.  Further, they stated they will not release the name of the hospital in order to respect the privacy of the family.

The Office of the Presidency released a statement saying the surgery was successful and that Mandela is recovering.

I’m sure I’m not the only person who used to get soooo much crap for liking a certain musician or group who weren’t big with family or friends. For me, back in the day, if it wasn’t hip-hop or R&B, my brother used to get on me about digging pop musicians like Christina Aguilera, Fiona Apple, and Celine Dion. You listen to unique bands and singers today that don’t fit the BET mold and you look more cultured, deep and well-rounded, but back in the day, I just used to get called weird. Ah, well. Were you fans of any of these folks years ago? Well, now you know you weren’t the only one…

Source: marcellachamorro.com

The White Boy Bands

I used to say I liked the Backstreet Boys to my family, and often times, they would assume I was talking about BLACKSTREET. Uh, no boo boo, there’s a big difference. I couldn’t help it, “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, “Bye, Bye, Bye” by N’Sync, and “Step By Step” by New Kids on the Block were THE jams. But if you played them around my folks, or asked someone to turn the radio back to the one of these tracks, folks would treat you like you were trying to listen to Insane Clown Posse. Shame…

Being the son of the wealthiest hip-hop head in the world has its perks if you didn’t know. No need to do cheesy promotional photos when you can just be the face of the boy’s line of clothing for your father’s uber-popular clothing company. Christian Combs, Diddy’s first child with Kim Porter, had the awesome challenge of doing so to help promote the Spring/Summer collection, and he aced it as far as I can tell. The 14-year-old looks exactly likes his pops, and seems to have a very similar personality as the shiny suit man as well. Cute kid indeed, and let’s hope he’s inherited his dad’s business savvy! Check out a few more images from the shoot below and tell us if Christian is a spitting image of the D, the I, the D, the D…and the Y.

And in jet-setting cuteness, Jennifer Hudson and her little man, David Otunga Jr., were seen earlier in the week going through LAX. The funky-fresh dressed kid was looking adorable in his Knicks hat and big ‘ol spectacles as they prepared to fly the friendly skies. Check out more of the cute kid and his animal-print loving mom below!

Source: Black Celeb Kids

Source: Black Celeb Kids

Photos of Christian courtesy of concreteloop.com.

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Photo courtesy of orijinculture.com

After another lengthy wait–I don’t even remember when episode 11 premiered, but I’m pretty sure it was a month ago–”The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl” is back! Sadly, it’s back to debut the season finale of the popular web series, which has had us rolling on the floor laughing, singing the random song, “Booty Shawts,” and coming to terms with our own awkwardness. Director/writer/editor Issa Rae’s web series has garnered a huge following, and we hope to see it back very, VERY soon (just not on television). So to celebrate the season finale premiering tonight, we wanted to take a look back at some of our favorite ABG episodes in all their awkward glory. Be sure to tell us your faves! “Drop dat beat Cece!”

(The Fresh Xpress) — As Black Music Month winds down, theFreshXpress.com chose to highlight twenty of the most groundbreaking, influential, or just plain memorable videos from the King of Pop in celebration of his death. We’ve polled our contributors and come up with a list, which we’re sure you’ll debate. Chime in with your thoughts, tell us why these videos were significant to you, or just tell us what we missed!

Read More…

(The Fresh Xpress) — As Black Music Month winds down, theFreshXpress.com chose to highlight twenty of the most groundbreaking, influential, or just plain memorable videos from the King of Pop in celebration of his death. We’ve polled our contributors and come up with a list, which we’re sure you’ll debate. Chime in with your thoughts, tell us why these videos were significant to you, or just tell us what we missed!

Read More…